New Student Wellness Center Underway at the University of Chicago

CHICAGO, IL – Construction on the new Student Wellness Center at the University of Chicago’s Hyde Park campus has begun. Scheduled for completion in fall 2020, the new center will create a single, integrated facility for the university’s student health, counseling, and wellness resources.

University of Chicago

The 30,000-square-foot project includes the ground floor renovation of a portion of the historic building that currently houses the school’s student health clinic, known as the Lying-In Hospital, along with the construction of a new modern glass addition infilling an existing courtyard that will accommodate student counseling and health promotion services, both of which are relocating from separate campus locations. The new center will also provide a dedicated student entrance for greater ease of access.

The multi-story Lying-In Hospital building was designed in the late 1920s by Schmidt, Garden & Erickson in a Collegiate Gothic style. The project will capture the highly detailed limestone facades of the courtyard within the modern interior of the new infill addition. The gothic stone masonry will be on display by constituting the perimeter circulation walls of the main corridors. Continuous overhead skylights will bring abundant natural light into these passages, celebrating the building’s craftsmanship and continuity between old and new.

Working with an aggressive timeline, Wight & Company will complete the first phase of the project by spring 2020. The firm is partnering with GMA Construction, a veteran- and minority-owned firm based on Chicago’s South Side.

Featured

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Dallas-Area District Debuts Three New Facilities

    The Duncanville Independent School District in southwest Dallas, Texas, recently held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for three new facilities that resulted from a $170-million bond program passed in 2023, according to a news release.

  • Secret to Efficient, On-Time School Infrastructure & Modernization Projects is All in the Preparation

    Warmer weather and longer days make summer the ideal time for construction and modernization projects at educational facilities. School boards and construction firms must coordinate effectively to ensure that these projects do not extend even a single day into the school year and impede classroom operation.